


Knitted

by conceptofzero



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2014-01-16
Packaged: 2018-01-08 23:17:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1138630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/conceptofzero/pseuds/conceptofzero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If there's one thing Doze associates with Midwinter, it's holiday sweaters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knitted

**Author's Note:**

> Written for cocoscreamingwiththefelt for the Intermission Secret Santa exchange.

Midwinter celebrations always mean a few things:

  * There will be a drop in temperature and snow in the desert for a week or more. It will then vanish just as mysteriously as it appeared.
  * Someone (usually Itchy) will get their tongue or something else unmentionable stuck to a metal pole outside. If they’re lucky, Crowbar will find them and use hot water to get them loose. If they’re unlucky, they get a chunk of skin ripped off and go whining to Stitch to fix them up.
  * At least one snowman of Snowman will appear in the front yard, complete with unreasonably sized breasts and a stolen hat on top.
  * Sweaters. Lots of sweaters.



Stitch has outdone himself his year. The sweater is soft, fuzzy and patterned with red and white stripes. It makes Doze look a little like a peppermint candy with legs. He’s a little self-conscious about his resemblance to candy, but he’s got a good handle on it for once. After all, everybody looks a little goofy in a sweater, right?

“Hey Doze, nice stripes.” Trace slides up beside Doze, bumping his hip against Doze’s arm. As if to prove his point, Trace’s sweater is white and covered with holly leaves. Doze gives him a little smile, getting a toothy one in response from Trace.

“Thanks. You look good too…” Doze smiles a little, bumping back. It’s probably the eggnog he had earlier, but he feels a little flirtier than usual. Nothing wrong with a little liquid courage. “They’re pretty warm huh?”

“Man you can say that. I was wearing mine near the fireplace and sweating pretty hard in it. Uh. Do I smell?” Trace ducks his nose down to smell himself, making a face. “Aw jeeze.”

“I can’t smell anything, you’re good…” Doze assures him, giving Trace a tentative pat on the shoulder. “You shouldn’t trust your nose, it’s… very sensitive. So smells are just stronger when they really aren’t…”

“That’s nice of you to say so Doze. You’re wrong but. It’s the thought that counts.” He seems to be taking it all good-naturedly. Doze pretends to be offended for a moment, scoffing a little at Trace, who just grins and glances down at his sweater. “So, you think Stitch is sending a message with the stuff on our sweaters?”

“Yeah, he’s sweet and you’re poison!” Itchy zips in, almost upending a table as he hipchecks it and pinballs off of it, coming to a skidding stop in front of the pair. He’s still in his regular suit and his shoes are covered with melting snow. Itchy looks cold, something that’s confirmed when he zips up to Doze and stuffs both freezing hands under the sweater and onto Doze’s belly. The sudden change in temperature is enough to make him yelp. “Stay still fucker, I’m freezing.”

“Knock of it off asshole.” Trace gives Itchy a smack while Doze tries to get away from those ice cold hands under his sweater. Itchy moves faster than he can and Doze can’t seem to shake him. “Come on man.”

“Itchy stop!” Doze tries to get away for another thirty seconds before he just gives up, knowing that he’s not going to be able to shake Itchy. He’s right, and Itchy’s hands just shove further up Doze’s sweater, digging into his flesh. “Itchy please…”

“Just hold on, lemme warm them up enough so I can feel them again.” He leans forward, slouching so he can stick his chin onto Doze’s shoulder. All of him is cold, though not as chilly as the hands stuck on his chest. “Fuck you feel good. Trace, how about you fucking sandwich me up and give me some of your body heat?”

“Not happening.” Trace just shakes his head at Itchy, raising his hand in a stop-and-no-thanks gesture. Itchy shrugs and nuzzles Doze’s neck, making him crane his head back further. “Uh, you guys need some privacy?”

“I just invited you to fucking snuggle up, does that sound like we want privacy?” Itchy points out, waggling his ass in Trace’s direction. He blows a raspberry on Doze’s neck unexpectedly, making him twitch a few times. After he’s stolen most of Doze’s heat, he finally takes his hands off of him and gives Doze a little space. Though his belly is freezing, his face is flushed and feels red hot. “Where’s my fucking sweater?”

“Why would I know? Go ask Stitch for it.” Trace rolls his eyes. He seems a little embarrassed by Itchy’s antics too. That just makes Doze duck his face into the collar of his sweater, wanting to melt into the ground. He loves Itchy, he wouldn’t be charmed up with him if he didn’t, but he could do without the endless harassment sometimes. Especially in front of the other guys.

“Looks like somebody’s not feeling that Midwinter spirit! You wait right here, I’ll go get some mistletoe or something.” He squeezes Doze’s butt and zips away before Doze can even register that he’s been goosed. Like always, his reaction is a second too late and he hops a little on instinct, looking in the direction Itchy’s gone.

“Sorry about him. He’s…” Doze struggles to find an adequate word to describe his charm partner. It’s hard. There are a lot of things he could call Itchy but most of them don’t fully sum up how thoroughly obnoxious and embarrassing he can be, and yet… charming. In the end, he shrugs. “He’s Itchy.”

“Don’t I know that. He’s a maniac. I don’t know how you manage to actually maintain a heart charm with him.” Trace ends up sitting in a nearby armchair, slouching into the cushions. He’s fidgety, clearly trying to work himself up into asking Doze something. “You uh… you ever thought about trying that heart charm with someone else?”

Oh. Well. Doze really should have seen this coming. Trace has been working his way up to this conversation for a while now. Doze tugs at little at the hem of his sweater, wanting to pull it down further. “Well. Uh. Occasionally, when he makes me really upset… but… he’s mostly a pretty good partner, you know? And I… do love him.”

It’s Trace’s turn to say, “Oh.” His face goes a dark green as he blushes. “Well uh. You know, if it works, then it works and that’s great-”

“But. I’m. Open in other charms.” It’s about as fast as Doze can speak, which is still incredibly slow, but he does manage to get a word in edgewise before Trace can talk him out of discussing charms with Doze because… well. He wouldn’t mind charming up with Trace. “I’ve got… balloons. Horseshoes. Rainbows-”

“Rainbows. I’m. I’m open in them too. And I think we’d be good in rainbows. I’m kind of a shitty dance but I’m great at follies and limericks!” He’s still a dark green but there’s a light in his eyes that wasn’t there a moment ago. Doze doesn’t really need Trace to sell him on rainbows, but he does appreciate that Trace is trying. “I could come up with a couple now if you want me to.”

“You don’t have to but… I wouldn’t say no.” It’s Doze’s turn to flush, trying hard not to keep ducking his face into his sweater. Maybe it’s a little… inappropriate to be doing this in public but it’s not like anyone else is going to hear them.

“I, uh, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah I can. Uh.” Trace hops to his feet and clears his throat. There’s an awkward pause as he tries to string something together, and Doze just patiently waits for him to decide what to say. “Okay. Uh. There once was a gangster named Doze who requested I write him prose. Join me in a charm, I’ll keep you from harm-”

“And I’ll always suck on your nose!” Itchy is all too gleeful to finish the limerick off for Trace. Looks like he found Stitch since he’s got a sweater on. This one has a Midwinter tree on it, decorated with glitter and beads. Itchy zips in behind Doze, putting his arms around him and giving him a squeeze. “Soooo what charm?”

“Stop Itchy.” Doze squirms a little, giving up when Itchy starts sucking on his neck and just trying to tilt away. “Itchy…”

Trace huffs loudly and walks over to Itchy, catching hold of the back of his sweater and hauling him off of Doze. “Back off, we’re trying to have a moment here!”

“So? You think I’m not either?” Itchy twists and shoves himself against Trace. Doze watches as the pair stumbles back into the nearest wall, Itchy pinning Trace against it. He’s grinning and not too shy with where he puts his hands. “Come oooon, you’ve been trying to steal Doze out of my heart charm for weeks, we both know it. So how about you give it up, and fucking find a new charm-”

“He did.” Doze butts in, slowly heading over to join them and stop Itchy. “We were talking about rainbows. You’re still the only hearts for me.”

“What, really?” He looks at Trace for conformation, and when he gets it, he backs off. “Alright, sorry man. I thought you were being a dirty charm stealer.”

“Yeah well… I wasn’t.” Trace keeps leaning on the wall. He glances at the ground. “Well… I mean. I mostly wasn’t. You just… don’t treat him well.”

“I treat him fucking wonderfully! You dipshit, you don’t know dick about me and Doze.” Itchy cuffs Trace upside the head. He rolls his eyes, and as Doze gets close, he throws an arm around Doze, bringing him in. “Look, he’s my hearts partner, I love ‘em. I’m an asshole but I treat him well, right Doze?”

“It’s true…” Doze agrees, leaning into Itchy. While Itchy can be absolutely maddening, he is still a pretty dedicated charm partner. He reaches out and grabs hold of Trace’s hand, knitting their fingers together. “But… I know you’ll treat me well too… just in a different charm…”

“I… yeah.” Trace squeeze Doze’s hand and glances over at Itchy. He seems to almost be in pain as he gives him a half-hearted apology. “Sorry for trying to jack your charm.”

“That’s all I needed. Now hey, charms, I hear you’re free in horseshoes yeah? I’m free in horseshoes too. I’m thinking you, me, horseshoeing it up right?” Itchy makes a quick back-and-forth between himself and Doze, waggling his eyebrows. They would probably be a good match. “I’m telling you, I’m magically delicious, just ask Doze.”

“Don’t ask me.” Doze doesn’t even want to get into that right now. He’s just glad this has all worked out. For a moment he thought it was going to end badly. He smiles at Itchy before glancing down at his sweater. “So… your sweater has a tree on it.”

“Nah I didn’t get a sweater. Stitch is still mad that I put ice cubes in his bed. I stole Crowbar’s.” He grins and picks at it a little. “So we should probably get the fuck out of here before he comes looking for it.”

“You dumbshit.” Trace says, but it’s almost affectionate as the three of them make a get away.


End file.
